My PhD research is a Discursive Psychology project exploring how alcohol use is accounted for across contexts and audiences. Particular attention is paid to the attribution of blame and negotiation of personal drinking habits. Relevant to discursive topics of morality, accountability, and justification. Predicted submission of Summer 2020.
In a wider context, my research interests lie within the field of stigmatism. I am particularly interested in areas which border social norms and marginalisation, such as alcohol use and mental health. Both alcohol use and mental health are heavily prominent within society, yet when they become problematic they are hugely stigmatising. To date, my research predominantly focuses upon language and interaction, primarily using the methods of Discursive Psychology and Conversation Analysis to understand taboo or stigmatised topics and the way in which the language can provide insights into, and impact, such topics.
In addition to my ongoing PhD work, I am empoyed as a Research Assistant on a process evaluation of the NIHR-funded ODDESSI trial. The ODDESSI project is a multi-centre cluster randomised control trial exploring the effectiveness of the use of Open Dialogue within the NHS mental healthcare setting. The aim of the process evaluation is to work alongside the project in order to provide contextual data behind the results of the trial.
